[imagesource:here]

Today is the 98th day of South Africa’s national lockdown.

Of course, as we have moved through the alert levels, restrictions and regulations have eased, and we’re currently living that advanced alert level 3 life.

That means restaurants reopening for sit-down customers with strict guidelines in place, and the same for casinos, theatres, cinemas, and a number of other businesses.

Sadly, reducing the restrictions placed on our movement and behaviour also means increasing the risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19, and we are now in the midst of a pandemic that has spiralled out of control.

According to the latest stats released last night, South Africa has 159 333 confirmed cases, 2 749 deaths, and 76 025 recoveries. That puts us 17th in the world in terms of total cases, but with more than 8 000 new cases yesterday alone, a new daily record, the warning sirens are going off.

Gauteng, in particular, is under siege, although horror stories are also coming out of hospitals in the Eastern and Western Cape.

Earlier in the week, Gauteng Health MEC Bandile Masuku spoke of the possibility of “intermittent lockdowns” in the province, and that may now be under serious consideration.

The Daily Maverick reports:

Cabinet’s National Command Council (NCC) will decide whether to introduce a Lockdown 2.0 for Gauteng as the country’s most populous province explodes with Covid-19 infections.

According to doctors and other healthcare workers, the virus has arrived with a winter vengeance, filling up clinics and hospitals faster than expected.

“MEC Bandile Masuku has previously raised a suggestion of an intermittent lockdown, but ultimately the decision on the lockdown frameworks lies with the National Command Council.”

The NCC is headed by Co-operative Government Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who must make the decision in consultation with Health Minister Zweli Mkhize who warned on 25 June that Gauteng would become the epicentre of Covid-19.

Any attempt to reinstate harsher lockdown measures would meet much resistance, both by the people and in the courts, but Gauteng has now become the epicentre of infections, and the healthcare system is already buckling.

Doctors who spoke with the Daily Maverick reported that “oxygen stocks are running low and that the testing system, already under strain, is malfunctioning”.

The drop to alert level 3 played a large role in the spike of infections:

In the cruel toss-up between limiting movement by lockdown (to keep infection rates down) and keeping the economy going so people can earn enough to eat, the numbers in Gauteng reveal the severity of the dilemma.

Soon after lockdown Level 3 opened up over 80% of the economy on 1 June, the Gauteng caseload shot up as people returned to work and began moving around again. With the opening of long-distance taxi routes this week, this raises the spectre of the province becoming a national super-spreader.

Gauteng is a province of transients with people moving into and out of it daily.

Masuku’s spokesperson, Kwara Kekana, says the province is actively opening up more healthcare facilities to increase the number of beds available, as well as “scrambling to ensure oxygen supply and oxygen points inwards”.

According to two doctors who spoke with the Daily Maverick, “oxygen supplies should have been secured months ago as the requirement was entirely predictable, given that the lockdown was put in place to prepare the health system”.

In short, whilst South Africans endured one of the strictest lockdowns anywhere in the world (and still cannot legally buy tobacco products), government officials squandered the opportunity to adequately prepare for what we knew was coming.

President Cyril Ramaphosa did briefly touch on the issue of our reduction in alert levels last night, during a virtual imbizo where he fielded questions from members of the public.

Ramaphosa stated that “the reality is that we could not remain under lockdown forever, and that “businesses need to reopen so that they can survive and so that the staff can also keep their jobs and salary”.

He also touched on the tobacco sales ban, saying “cigarettes are not banned forever in our country. The ban will be lifted.”

For now, while we wait to see what measures the NCC deems appropriate, all we can do is remain vigilant and adhere to the same safety measures we’ve been following for months.

[sources:dailymaverick&dailymaverick]